Fuyu
by layniebleargh
Summary: NejiTen winter-themed drabble collection. Drabble 10: He is not just Neji and she is not just Tenten. Together, they are different.
1. Warmth

**Drabble 1: Warmth**

Note: There is an alternate arrangement of the drabbles, via timeline, which you may prefer: Play, Embarassment, Warmth, Resuscitation, Tittle tattle, Snowprints, Passion, Dinner, Human, (then lastly) Blood.

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Neji sneezed.

Tenten looked up in surprise from the weapons she is studying, unsure of her hearing. But she noticed that her mission partner is paler than usual, his exposed fingernails already turning purple. Without a word, she took off her woolen mittens and handed them to him.

"I need my hands bare anyway to further examine these lovely things," she said, trying not to wince as the freezing air enveloped her hands.

When the purchase is finally made, Tenten yelped in surprise from a sudden warmth. Neji had stuffed her hand in his coat pocket together with his, their free hands snug and cozy in her matching mittens.

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Disclaimer: Author does not own Naruto and the idea in this particular drabble is from K-ON!. I just thought it too cute to pass up for NejiTen so please forgive the lack of originality.


	2. Blood

**Drabble 2: Blood  
**

* * *

Something is amiss.

Her breathing is barely audible in the cold night air, her body very still as though frozen. She has been waiting at the rendezvous point since sunset, the meeting time has long passed. Still, she dare not move; the mission instructions shall be strictly followed.

She gave a start when a crunch of snow broke the silence. Someone is approaching.

Concealing in the darkness, poisoned needles poised, she anticipated the next footfall.

It did not come. Instead, a thud is heard, and on the ground lies the dark mass of a man; beaten, gaunt. Quickly recognizing who he is, she hastily ran to the person's side, searching for his face.

_Mission success._ He thrusted the coveted object, most sought after, to her hands. He smiled, peace settling on his handsome face, the accursed mark on his forehead slowly fading. She smiled back, and as soon as his eyes closed, let the first tears of many years fall.

The heavens cleared, revealing a white orb in full radiance. All over the forest floor is crimson snow, sparkling beautifully beneath the figure of the man Tenten loves most - Neji.


	3. Play

**Drabble 3: Play  
**

* * *

He watched, with detached interest, the predictable conflagration of the agglomerated wood; the growing flame heating up his impassive face. Several meters West-northwest his teammates are playing with snow, carelessly giggling like little children who first touched a mass of ice. He permitted a contented sigh to escape his lips. This is how a brief winter vacation should be; relaxed and peaceful. He turned his freezing back to the fire - and was hit in the face by a flying, accelerating, ball of snow.

Silence reigned as the ice slowly slid down from its mark, revealing a set of very red nose and cheeks.

"Oops. Sorry, Neji."

A pause as he silently contemplates a befitting punishment. He knew it was intentional. She never misses.

Neji scooped snow into his hands, shaping a perfect sphere. In a fleeting, unexpected movement, it smashed right on Tenten's eyes. The girl, despite the hard hit, grinned. Her playmate flashed his teeth, a knowing look in his dark eyes. Neji smirked.

It was the first time they played together. Not just Lee and Tenten, but Lee, Tenten _and_ Neji. It felt good. As commemoration, a barrage of snowballs ensued; with kunai-shaped and shuriken-hiding varieties.

In a sober, cruel, grown-up world, it is nice to let the inner child out once in a while.

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Author Note: It is hard to make Neji cry without being irrational or using cliche reasons. Sorry, danceljoy. I am postponing carrying through the idea.


	4. Embarrassment

**Drabble 4: Embarrassment  
**

* * *

Ninjas of the Fire country usually rise at dawn to avoid the smouldering heat of the afternoon sun. Tenten, a kunoichi of Konoha, also adopts this practice. Everyday, without fail, she ignores the soreness of her muscles and the comfort of her bed in favor of being punctual to her early morning engagements.

Today she has training with Neji at five and, even if sleeping in sounds very tempting with the chilly weather, she has no plan to skip the arrangement. Thus, shivering, she faced the biting coldness of pre-dawn and headed towards the training grounds.

Neji is not yet there. Mumbling about tardiness and what-not, Tenten started to mark targets while waiting. Her partner is never late, but it astounds her that she actually arrived in the meeting place before he did.

She is even more astounded when five in the morning passed by without a Neji in sight. Something is terribly, terribly, off. Hesitatingly, she trudged to his residence, the Hyuuga compound...

...and found herself in an extremely serious debate on whether to laugh, croon, or just be exasperated. Tangled in pristine white sheets, his hair spread out untidily, mouth parted slightly in an almost infant-like way, Neji sleeps; and not even the shifting of his mattress, the rearranging of his bed covers, nor the finger gently prodding his cheeks are able to wake him.

For the very first time, Neji Hyuuga overslept; and this moment his teammate took perfect advantage of. He woke on the cold floor with smarting cheeks - both anterior and posterior - and his sleepwear full of flower prints under the mercy of a smirking Tenten holding a camera.

Thus Neji Hyuuga finally learned how to blush.

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Author Note: And now I'm afraid that my drabbles would not be drabbles anymore. They're starting to get longer. *Sigh.*


	5. Tittle tattle

**Drabble 5: Tittle-tattle  
**

* * *

Where training and missions are involved, a man and a woman seen together is no big thing. The same perspective applies to group outings; otherwise there may have been some suspicious signs of affection that transcends the border of concern between comrades and friends. Neji and Tenten wonder what exactly they have done during that seemingly normal group trip to the hot springs that warranted the origin and spread of the current sensation of Konoha gossips. If only they would ask Shikamaru, the actual person responsible for the sudden generation of rumours, they would find out the answer right away.

All misconceptions (or are they really?) started on a particularly cold day in Konoha, whence the members of the former teams 7, 8, 10, and Gai decided to use the brief break for a quick, steamy dip. Safely past their awkward adolescence and responsible enough as adults, they all shared the same hot spring; but their newness to the practice still caused a certain distance between the men and women. Well, except for one case. Tenten, secure in her body towel, was conversing in a low tone with Neji, who was listening with the ever-cool expression on his face, an arm draped across the kunoichi's naked shoulders. No one else seemed to notice but Shikamaru, who, humoured by the rather serene scene, nudged Chouji to the direction and chuckled. Shikamaru failed to notice the surprised, embarrassed look on his best friend's face. That had been the igniter. Which was it into a full flame by the events of that night...

The group slept together in one room. The women at the left, the men at the right. Tenten and Neji served as borders. Chouji was beside Neji. Everyone tucked in early for a good, long rest, and thus the chubby - er, healthy - ninja was startled to consciousness in the middle of the night when he heard quiet murmurs from his one side. A shifting of mattress and a sudden coolness. Neji had probably shifted to Tenten's direction. A brief silence - then slopping sounds - a heavy breathing. Chouji pretended to roll in his sleep - so he could face the, uh, opposite direction and block his ears. No use. A moan still got through. Chouji clenched his teeth and willed a jutsu to make him sleep again. The next day, Ino noticed his lack of sleep and demanded an answer. Chouji confessed; and thus the rest of the village quickly siphoned the information - with a juicy detail added in every passing of word - and Neji and Tenten came to be followed by whispers almost everywhere. Although they worked hard to trace the pioneer of all misconceptions, Neji and Tenten just never caught the source of the rumor (they're different people, afterall).

Also, Chouji never found out the truth behind the happenings of that cold, yet steamy, day - those are just between Neji and Tenten, as supposed to be.

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Author Note: I dearly hope that this drabble collection remains composed of drabbles, not shorts - but I just can't resist making this chapter a bit longer.


	6. Dinner

**Drabble 6: Dinner  
**

* * *

For some unknown reason, Tsunade-sama has taken fancy on sending her to distant missions - which is the precise cause why she is to be found shivering in the middle of the streets of Konoha at two in the morning; her clothes still damp from the snowstorm in Hidden Mist. Teeth chattering, she decided on a hot bowl of soup before finally crawling into her apartment to end the day; thus she hugged herself more tightly against the cold morning and wandered idly in search for a convenience food stall. She nearly jumped in alarm when, out of nowhere, her ex-teammate suddenly materialized.

"Why, in such an ungodly hour -"

"Village patrol, Tenten."

A half second in silent contemplation.

"Oh, I forgot."

His pale eyes momentarily surveyed her appearance, from the disheveled hair to the soaked mission attire.

"Ichiraku Ramen is still open."

She smiled at the concealed invitation, touched by the unasked concern that he shows; the few years of leading separate career paths not enough to overwhelm the foundations of their friendship.

A steamy bowl of noodles and broth shared with a person she knows more than compensates for the frosty missions in cold lands done alone.


	7. Resuscitation

**Drabble 7: Resuscitation  
**

* * *

He watches, by the narrow gap between his lashes, as she impatiently brushes back her frosted hair with pale, trembling fingers. He faintly hears buzzing from his neckline down his waist; and in a moment there is a dull thud of something heavy and solid hitting the ground, sending flecks of ice in all directions. His world darkens for a while; then again he sees the silhouette of his partner against the gray, fuzzy sky.

He observes, despite the foggy surroundings, the swell of her chest - exposed from the battle-torn clothes she wears - rise up and fall in heaving motions, and he knows that she's desperately sucking for air. She is leaning, leaning closer; he views the valley of her breasts curve into the gentle hills of her collarbone, then her neck, and finally her full lips.

Her mouth touches his; and he wonders how something so sensual and warm-looking be chapped and cold in contact. Nevertheless, with flesh against his, he slowly becomes aware of the cold forest floor and the goose bumps on his skin and hers - he shivers - then he feels air rush through his mouth and throat, and his lungs fill with hotness. He closes his eyes as his chest uncomfortably constricts; and he sputters.

Now gasping for breath, he cracks an eye open and sees her inhaling and exhaling just as fast as him, although she is positively laughing in between puffs.

"You - (huff) - got - (huff) - me - (sharp intake of breath) - so - (huff again) - worried."

She slaps him on the back, he smiles weakly, and she laughs some more in relief; and only when he regains his composure half an hour later and still hears her heavy breathing does he realize that she had just given him what little air that she has, mindless of her own difficulty in acquiring the precious oxygen.

Just as he is willing to protect her to his last breath, Tenten is happy to give him her own life.


	8. Snowprints

**Drabble 8: Snowprints  
**

* * *

Walking Akamaru isn't Kiba's sole purpose in patrolling Konoha every mission-free morning. Unbeknownst to many, he has quite a penchant for observing things; and couldn't call himself a ninja if he doesn't know the topography of his own village quite well. The son of the Inuzuka's greatly prides in keeping the quirks and eccentricities of his friends safe from the public knowledge.

An example of such - secrets - is the expansive tree twenty seven kilometers west from the old training grounds of team ten. The fauna was - is - so ordinary in its habitat that he used to pass it without a thought, but once he noticed yellow crumbs at its base and decided to take a closer look. A mere sniff told him that the particles smell just like Chouji's favorite brand of chips, and further investigations had him laughing everytime Ino wonders on the sudden disappearances of her teammates whenever she's in a roll.

On the other hand, there are some quirks that Kiba would rather leave alone, such as the sets of footprints which, as seasons come and go, are almost always found together; and incredibly getting closer and closer too. Coincidentally, he has just spotted the same sets as he currently treads a path towards a secluded portion of the forests. The snow looks soft in the area, and he suspects they had just gone by, the crushed ice glistening in the pale morning sunlight. The impressions, he notes, are shallow and will disappear soon as snow continuously falls; but the scent of sweet chestnuts and bitter tea hangs so heavily in the air, that several minutes - or even half an hour - more will pass and they will remain. Kiba follows the marks with his eyes - not daring to walk with them - and chuckles softly. At some point, after a pile of snow in the distance (he infers a scuffle, for there is a kunai mark on a nearby tree and a dent on the ground), the sets of footprints have become one.

A couple of meters away, a shinobi and a kunoichi are blissfully enjoying a mission-free morning together; for once not fighting for their village but savoring priceless, intimate moments they more than deserve.

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A/N: I just want you readers to know: Each drabble can stand alone, but they may follow a particular sequence. That is why, if you may take notice, the drabbles are all in the same universe. I will announce the sequence at the tenth chapter, the last of this drabble collection.


	9. Passion

**Drabble 9: Passion  
**

* * *

Somehow, she had the feeling that they would end up doing it one day. Their relationship, admittedly, has been a question mark for quite a long time already, and there were instances when she actually thought that she could just throw all rationale out of the window and surrender to temptation. Afterall, they have been through enough teasing to guarantee a rise from each other...

And they couldn't fault themselves for being - to put it frankly - sexually deprived, could they? In mid-twenties and haven't even relieved a tiny bit of pent-up-since-adolescence-frustration - they _really_ were going nowhere else.

But of course, with both of them being too practical to a fault, they ended up in a not-so-uncommon consensus: What transpired during that three-day stay at an inn in Snow Country would not be brought up under all circumstances, ever. The surprise encounter after two years of not seeing a square inch of each other's skin never happened. Her dinner invitation, his reluctant consent, the sinfully sensual massage, the short-lived prurience - all were smothered to secrets. And the rude awakening...

_Well, the ratio of disappointments to satisfactions in life has always been 10:1._

Tenten indignantly rips the weapons from the block of ice, ignoring the whimpers of her frightened subject, and continues the interrogation with a bit more force than necessary. The bitter winter wind blows mightily into the dark, cold cave, and she admits for the first time that she feels just as glacial.

Love has always been too ideal for her.

_What happened last night... shall never be brought up. Let us still be friends, Tenten._

Good thing is (or maybe it's really a bad thing), she has always been on the masochistic side.

_Alright._

Neji had smiled at her. And she knew, then, that she'll never be able to let go. Maybe, being liked is already enough.

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A/N: I believe that I never got to thank those who support me in this fic, so I now seize the chance. Thank you very much for the reviews, alerts, and favs! I really do appreciate them. They keep me going. Also, I apologize for the late update. I was looking for a way to portray Neji and Tenten's sexual engagement without turning the fic into M rated, and that took me a very long time. Another thing, is the chapter title suitable? For the first time, I am bothered by it. Next chapter will be the last in this drabble collection.


	10. Human

**Drabble 10: Human  
**

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She sweeps the locks from his face, her other hand clutched tightly at his shoulder, never letting go as the wind scratched their faces raw. She knows that his arms may be getting numb from her weight but there is nothing else she could do; she is at the moment rendered useless and it would just be pointless to be frustrated. Instead, she relishes in the moment, knowing that it may be the last time she could be so close to him.

"Absolutely not, huh?"

She thinks that maybe, he is smiling just as she is.

"You are different than Lee."

She buries her face further at the crook of his neck, basking in his scent.

"You are different than him, too."

He smiles, adjusting her position at his back, securing her closer.

- x -

He should never have left her by the tree. She should never have let him go. They should have stayed together, stayed human, for once.

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A/N: And finally, the very delayed last chapter. Now, as promised, here is the alternate sequence (by timeline) of the drabbles: Play, Embarassment, Warmth, Resuscitation, Tittle tattle, Snowprints, Passion, Dinner, Human, (then lastly) Blood. Btw, if you did not get the Lee reference, just take note of the piggy-back moment back when Team Gai was canonly in Suna to help rescue Gaara.


End file.
